Blair: US pull-out imbecilic
TONY Blair last night branded the withdrawal from Afghanistan as “imbecilic” and warned the decision has led to “every Jihadist group round the world cheering”.
The former PM urged Boris Johnson to use the UK’S position as head of the powerful G7 group of countries to take tough action against the incoming Taliban regime.
Slamming the US pull-out drawnup by Donald Trump but signed off by Joe Biden, Mr Blair wrote: “The world is now uncertain where the West stands because it is so obvious the decision to withdraw in this way was driven not by strategy but by politics.
“We did it in obedience to an imbecilic slogan about ending ‘the forever wars’, as if our engagement in 2021 was remotely comparable to our commitment 20 or even 10 years ago, in circumstances in which troop numbers had declined to a minimum and no allied soldier had lost their life in combat for 18 months.”
Violated
Mr Blair said the February 2020 deal to leave if the Taliban agreed to protect civilians and form a stable government had been violated daily and the decision to depart was taken knowing this was going on.
It had led to “every Jihadist group round the world cheering”.
Mr Blair was PM when the first UK troops were sent to Afghanistan. He backed the action, led by US forces, to attack al-qaeda training camps in the country and the Taliban regime.
While he said there had been mistakes, he defended attempts to form a stable government in Kabul.
And he said it was also inevitable the government would fold when the Afghan army’s morale collapsed after”air support vital for troops was scuttled by the overnight withdrawal of maintenance”.
He added: “We need to draw up incentives and sanctions so the Taliban understand their actions will have consequences. Disarray needs to be replaced with a credible plan.”
He said the next threat will come from Africa, where jihad forces are seizing land south of the Sahara.